NAQOURA, Lebanon (AP) – Secretary-General Annan visited United Nations peacekeepers in south Lebanon on Tuesday, a day after Italy and Turkey moved to join the international force there.

Annan and his entourage landed in Naqoura, a town on the Mediterranean coast about two miles north of the Israeli border, in two white U.N. helicopters. The town is the headquarters of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL.

The U.N. chief was in Lebanon on the first leg of an 11-day Mideast tour that would take him to Israel, as well as to Syria and Iran _ Hezbollah’s main benefactors.

Annan was briefed by French Maj. Gen. Alain Pellegrini, the UNIFIL commander, and other top officials, then reviewed an honor guard of U.N. troops in blue berets standing at attention on the green lawn inside the U.N.’s white-walled compound.

He laid a wreath at a monument for peacekeepers killed in Lebanon since UNIFIL deployed here in 1978. Muslim and Christian clergymen said prayers, and the U.N. chief stood in silence in front of a display of portraits of those killed, including four UNIFIL members killed in an Israeli airstrike on their base in Khiam on July 25.

The U.N. chief shook hands with members of the 2,000-member force, which is being expanded to 15,000 under the U.N. resolution that halted fighting between Israel and Hezbollah on Aug. 14. Flags of countries contributing troops to UNIFIL, including Annan’s native Ghana, fluttered in the breeze as the band played their national anthems.

Annan reiterated his calls for Hezbollah to release two Israeli soldiers whose July 12 capture spurred the fighting, and for Israel to lift its air and sea blockade on Lebanon.

“We need to resolve the issue of the abducted soldiers very quickly,” he said. “We need to deal with the lifting of the embargo _ sea, land and air _ which for the Lebanese is a humiliation and an infringement on their sovereignty.”

“I think the time has come for the siege to be lifted. The Lebanese have shown they’re serious about the implementation of (U.N. resolution) 1701 in all the deployments and efforts they have made,” he added.

He later traveled to Jerusalem for talks with Israeli leaders.

In Copenhagen, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said there was “no good news on the situation of the soldiers” after she met with Danish leaders. She was to return to Jerusalem later in the day to meet with Annan.

Livni said “time will tell who is the winner” of the 34-day conflict, and she said Hezbollah had been weakened by the fighting.

“Hezbollah has to give some explanation to the Lebanese people,” she said. “They suffered for nothing.”

After talks with Lebanese leaders in Beirut, the U.N. chief faulted both Israel and Hezbollah for not living up to key sections of the cease-fire resolution, and warned that fighting could resume if the parties did not abide by the full resolution.

“Without the full implementation of resolution 1701, I fear the risk is great for renewal of hostilities,” he said.

He also toured a bombed out neighborhood in the Hezbollah stronghold of south Beirut, where hundreds of residents booed him as he toured the ruins Monday.

Annan said he found the destruction in south Lebanon “quite shocking,” and said he could “understand the anger and frustration of some of those who had lived there.”

“But what happened yesterday was really a little sideshow put on to impress me, and I think some of the young ones got a bit overzealous,” he said in reference to the booing.

The U.N. refugee agency said thousands of Lebanese have been unable to return to their homes two weeks after the cease-fire took hold because they feel too insecure or their residences were destroyed.

“I think until the cease-fire is completely stable and the forces are in place there, many of those people would be reluctant to go back,” said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Jack Redden.

Meanwhile, an Italian task force, led by the country’s only aircraft carrier, the Giuseppe Garibaldi, sailed from southern Italy for Lebanon. Three landing platform dock ships also left the port of Brindisi, and a small frigate already in Cyprus was scheduled to join the Italian mission, the Defense Ministry said.

Italy on Monday approved sending 2,500 troops, the largest national contingent so far. The plan now goes to Parliament for approval, but the ships were to set sail ahead of the vote and reach Lebanon on Friday.

“We will follow you with trepidation because it is a delicate mission of huge historic significance,” Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi told about 1,000 soldiers bound for U.N. peacekeeping duties. “But we will also follow you with pride and trust, knowing that although you carry arms, you’re going to Lebanon exclusively to bring peace.”

Some of the crew shared the mixed feelings.

“This mission came all of a sudden,” said Sgt. Gaspare Scavone, 33, on his first mission abroad. “We’re still in the dark as to what we will have to do once we’re in the area.”

Spain’s Defense Ministry said a marine unit was ordered to prepare for deployment to Lebanon to join the U.N. peacekeeping force. The ministry would not disclose the number of troops but Spain’s Socialist government reportedly is considering sending between 700 and 1,000. The government is expected to approve the deployment at a Cabinet meeting Friday and then must seek Parliament’s approval.

A battalion of 900 French soldiers will arrive in Lebanon in mid-September to help boost the U.N. peacekeeping force, the Defense Ministry said. France now has about 400 soldiers in the force, known as UNIFIL, and plans to expand that number to 2,000.

On Monday, Turkey’s Cabinet decided in favor of sending peacekeepers and its parliament was to debate the deployment later this week or early next week, said Turkish government spokesman Cemil Cicek.

Turkey ruled Lebanon for some 400 years during the Ottoman Empire and many Turkish officials want their country to have a say in an area that they regard as their country’s backyard.

The United States, the European Union and Israel were pressing Turkey, the only Muslim member of NATO and a country with close ties to Israel and Arab countries, to send peacekeepers.